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Though the sign did not reveal why the chain restaurant had temporarily shut its doors, the closure did come a day after a picture of a mouse allegedly on the counter of the restaurant appeared online.

In a Facebook post Sunday, Jennifer Coleman shared a picture of a rodent scurrying between a soda dispenser and a salsa bar, saying she took it at the Nipomo Carl’s Jr.

Coleman said she was in the restaurant with her daughter when she saw the mouse in the dining area.

“I was grossed out,” she said. “I was stunned, too. It’s not something you think you’re going to see and it’s things like this that you hear about in larger cities, not here in Nipomo.”

Coleman said she informed employees and management of the mouse and later contacted the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department.

“There are very few choices for food in Nipomo,” she said. “I hope they get themselves together and cleaned up. … I won’t go back for quite awhile, that’s for sure.”

As of 8:30 p.m. Monday, the post had more than 1,100 reactions and 524 shares.

Calls to the restaurant Monday night for comment on the incident were unsuccessful.

A notice posted on the fast food restaurant Monday evening said the business would reopen as usual Tuesday.

Ayslyn Leslie

KSBY reported county health officials and pest control were at the location Monday morning.

In a statement to the news outlet, the corporate office for Carl’s Jr said:

“We are aware of the image posted online. Carl’s Jr. takes its commitment to food safety and quality seriously. Although the restaurant passed a health inspection this morning, we decided to proactively close the restaurant today while further corrective action is taken to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We apologize to our customers for any concern this has caused.”